How to do nothing in Thailand

I have a lot of friends here who struggle with living in Thailand because they have absolutely nothing to do. Even a good friend of mine recently left Thailand because he struggled with the fact that there isn't really much for him to do here. Those of you who are retiring here are probably loving the fact that there is nothing to do but even still you'll probably struggle with the fact that you now have nothing to do after working and pushing yourself for the past 40 years.For me I moved to Thailand when I was 28 and now this year i'll be 32. When I first got here I buried myself into my Ebay business building it up to I could be self sustainable here in Thailand. Then I ventured into creating a business in Thailand until one day I started this blog and getting back into building websites and making money online. But these days I really and honestly don't do anything. In fact I probably have the opposite problem of people who struggle with not doing anything I struggle to do anything at all.

The art of doing nothing is not as easy as it sounds. Winding down and watching the grass grow day in day out is harder than actually waking up at 6am to go to work especially if you've been doing it for 20+ years. Anyone here struggled with this same problem after moving to Thailand? After I started this blog and stopped doing my eBay stuff I really had a lot of time on my hands. I mean I might write a post that takes me about an hour a day and then the rest of the day I don't have much to do, my biggest problem of the day is what i'm going to eat next and for someone in their early 30's which is really when most guys are working their hardest I pretty much live everyday doing nothing at all.

There is so much drinking and partying one can do, chasing girls is fun, buying them is too easy which is why you'll notice in my blog (well prior to moving to Pattaya) that I'd be going on dates maybe 2-3 times a day. This is because really there isn't much more I can do and the biggest excitement for me is meeting some girl I thought was 40kg and turns out to be 80 and then I figure out which way to run, that's the kind of excitement you get when you actually do nothing.

Doing nothing can be boring, you move to Thailand you meet a great girl you get a place together you have enough money to live off so you don't have to work and then you sit in your house watch TV and basically do nothing. Sounds great if you're still back in the states slaving away but for the guy sitting there watching TV it can be pretty boring and the thrill of getting back to your country and going back to work can sometimes sound like a better option. Doing nothing can be bloody boring.

So how do you make doing nothing more exciting? Well you can go to the gym, I mean this is good anyway you've got time on your hands so why not get fit so you can live longer and do nothing for even longer. This takes up a few hours of your day.

Next step in doing nothing is to make some friends so you can hang out and do nothing with them too. This is harder said then done as there are too many losers living in Thailand and it can get old meeting loser after loser. I have a few close friends which are cool we like to hang out and do nothing. Doing nothing with someone else is always better than doing nothing by yourself.

Many guys here in Thailand find themselves with nothing to do so instead they troll the internet finding forums and blogs like mine and start poking and being obnoxious with their comments and rudeness. Whatever you do in Thailand don't be one of these guys who sits on Thai Visa and starts talking crap at every single news or forum post. Sure you have nothing to do but doing nothing is surely better than being one of those guys.

Doing nothing in Thailand sure beats doing nothing back in your own country at least here it doesn't really cost much at all to do nothing, even if I did nothing back in my country it would still cost me too much to do nothing i'm better off doing nothing in Thailand.

Basically to do nothing in Thailand you simply need to slow right down and just enjoy doing nothing do something but make sure your as unproductive as possible. Remember doing nothing is still doing something.

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About Chris

Chris founded LivingThai.org in 2011 and has received over 3 million visitors. In 2017 he stopped writing new content (although does update the site) and is now focused on writing for his new website SlyNomad.com.

32 Responses to How to do nothing in Thailand

lol @
“Next step in doing nothing is to make some friends so you can hang out and do nothing with them too. This is harder said then done as there are too many losers living in Thailand and it can get old meeting loser after loser. I have a few close friends which are cool we like to hang out and do nothing. Doing nothing with someone else is always better than doing nothing by yourself.”

Think it depends on the type of person you are. When I’m in Thailand, I don’t HAVE to do anything, I could just laze by the pool all day, but that would be so boring to me.

I find the days are easily filled and go quickly. Some examples would be: Get up late, go to get and then read the paper, go for a swim, find/fix lunch. Go to the gym (not every day). Drop off or collect laundry perhaps stopping off somewhere for a cup of tea. Catch up with emails n stuff. (takes several hours).
Perhaps researching and planning the next side trip.
Go for a walk, get any shopping needed, find/fix dinner. Watch TV & local news.
About 10 or 11pm go for a beer.

In fact often I never even have the time to switch the TV on from one week to the next.

Yeah, I agree, Chris!… it’s easier here in thailand to do nothing and get by than back home. After my contract ended, I decided to do nothing to see how life looks like here in BKK by living unproductive life. It’s pretty much ok, not boring, because I have enough time to go island hopping and meet new guys. My friends wondered how I pay my monthly bills and my visa run every 15 days. Well, life here is easy that I don’t need to get worry like my friends do for me.

I currently live in Las Vegas, and there is always something to do here, but it will cost a hell of alot more than Thailand, or anywhere else in the world for that matter, because the only thing to do here is drink and gamble. I am trying my success with my website also, but only turn 35 bucks a month right now. I make great money as a Casino Dealer, but I would have to stay in Las Vegas to keep making that income. Any suggestions on jobs for creating income online that you have been successful with?

Your a casino dealer, dude how many interesting stories would you have i’m sure! Why start a site about dating, you should talk about all the stories and people you’ve met in the casino that would be interesting that would drive more visitors to your site and it would be more believable, if you need help contact me on this site.

Couldn’t agree more with your comment about thaivisa! I hardly ever look at it now, but a couple of times in the past I went on it to either ask for or offer some information. The number of replies I got from people who knew absolutely jack shit about the subject but just wanted to parp parp their opinions was stunning, and the amount of bum information you get there far outweighs the useful stuff.

A couple of times I ended up saying, please, if you don’t actually know the answer I’m looking for or you just want to make some passing comment on the information I’m offering without actually adding to it, then don’t bother. If you just want to impress someone with how clever you are, tell your wide. She might be interested, I’m not.

What dreadful lives these people seem to have, living in Thailand and hating every minute of it.

Oh the joys of doing nothing. Go to bed, get up when you like. An amble in the park or beach on a sunny day. To be able to do what you want when you want. I have been doing in for 3 years and enjoying every minute, better than wet windy Ireland any day. Stop complaining boys if your complaining about living in Thailand then you were not ready to move here. Go back home to your 9 to 5 and try again. I don’t drink or do drugs so I can’t while away my time in the pub and have never been more content. Plenty more things to do in Thailand if you really want to, try charities or move to the country areas and find yourself a “nice” girl to settle down with. Good luck

This is an art – doing nothing. I had a full steam ahead career running at 100 kilometers an hour then BANG! I was at 5 kilometers an hour (on a good day).

The secret is ‘planning’ I planned to retire at 50 when I was about 47 and began that process, slowly, until it ended up I was sneaking internet searches and looking at forums at 48/49 waiting for the big day!!!

Whatever is said and done at the end of the day I will not write on my headstone ‘wish I had worked more’ and enjoy my time here but, as you say, boredom is the largest ‘enemy’.

I try and travel every three months – and so i am always planning some trip or another – took up golf (I’m terrible but it is exercise and kills time), learning Thai (bit by bit) and chasing new women (lot by lot).

Like that old Tom Waites song goes,”I can sleep until the crack of noon,dare not own an animal,go to bed when I want to and I’m getting up when I please..Don’t need to ask permission when I want to go out fishing,and never have to ask for the keys”..
I’m in SoFlorida still in cancer recovery mode and waiting approval on an Agent Orange claim..Upon approval,I’m taking the 1st thing smoking out of Miami to the Sattahip area..I plan on beating the docks to keep myself occupied 20-25 hrs a week on those white,shiney Clorox bottles [yachts]..I’ve been a straight arrow for the past 20 yrs,but I can still hang out,bust an occasional move and go fishing [for peach fish]..I’ll be on a quest to find some old Thai cats I worked with at U-Tapao tower in 1968.
There is always work to do on my old,rusty Thai;and I’m an old time hustler/player at heart,so there’s always shtt to fall into if you’re paying attention..I’m also a basketball nut,so I’ll be overjoyed to find a basketball court in the area as well as sticking it to my friends stuck in that morally sinking ship here in the States.
The States are killing me..There is soo much selfishness,cluelessness and rudeness here ;that I don’t claim it to be my America when people actually gave a fukk about each other without having ulterior motives..
I will be out of the woods with my treatment in 8 months and hopefully my claim will be approved [if not I’ll go to paln B]and I’m getting in the wind.

Best of luck Davidmac. Life here is right up there as being nearest thing to paradise. The people of Ireland adopted the American model of living in the last 15 years. Morally bankrupt, my house is bigger than yours and f**k being a good neighbour attitude. Nasty rude people. Drugs drink. Full of communist east europeans on welfare and a general take take take attitude across its people. I am glad to live in The land of smiles among beautiful people in heart mind and soul. Ireland the isle of Saints and Scholars has become the Isle of thieves and robbers.

Great post. Since I started traveling, I’ve really enjoyed doing absolutely fuck all. Just watching life go by. Sure it’s not always like, sometimes I have to focus and get to work, earn some more cash, and I sometimes start learning new stuff but generally doing nothing is pretty cool too.

I have this problem. I run an internet biz like you too and don’t have to get anywhere, anytime. Both my work and free time is suffering as a result. I find myself working at night, sleeping at day only going out for partying, lifting weights or drinking coffee. Haven’t done much dating during the daytime. Part of the reason is living in Bangkok which is hell to navigate at day. I’ve joined some Meetup groups for this reason to just meet a couple of likeminded individuals to hang out with working and doing nothign. Good post.

One of your best posts ever, or maybe because it is something I have do deal with too. Though not all of the time as I work about 2 weeks a month, about 150 days a year. This leaves me still with lots of time to do nothing, but I have to constantly change my rhythm. It always takes me a 2,3 days to slow down or speed up again.

I find that as I am getting older (fuck I just turned 30 for crying out loud!) it becomes easier. I am not good at sleeping in, but I have my morning ritual of watering plants, feeding my fish, checking email. Besides that I am constantly looking out for new tv-series to watch.

I used to do gym but because of my 2 weeks work a month I’ve thrown in the towel. It’s too hard to keep picking it up every time after 2 weeks of no exercise at all.

I do have friends obviously, but I do not have friends who consistently do nothing. Probably because I don’t do that also.

Lately I try to make projects for myself to do and become semi-awesome at. The only ‘rule’ I’ve set for myself here is that they have to somehow benefit my life, personal growth in some kind of way.

All in all, I am pretty happy with doing nothing and I feel fortunate to be able to live like this.

Nice to read stories from other people who have professionalized themselves into doing nothing. Now I will go back to do nothing with friends 🙂